nothing to prove

here i go again

Over Golden Week (a string of about 4 national holidays in one week) Melissa and I left Niigata to venture out to Thailand. Since I had a bit more nenkyuu (paid vacation) than Melissa, I went a day earlier to see Bangkok. Originally another guy, Phil, was supposed to join us be he had a small accident the week before and couldn't make the trip. In any case, that left me to travel alone the first day. It is the first time I have been alone in a foreign county that I didn't speak the language. In Japan Northwest had actually over booked my flight so the gave me some vouchers and sent me over the United to take an earlier flight to Bangkok. After arriving to Bangkok International Airport at around 11:30 I somehow figured out how to board the bus and get off at my stop. Of course I rode the bus the whole way and ended up missing my stop. Luckily the driver was really nice and dropped me off on his way back to the airport. It was so late that I only managed to check in that night and I was just thankful I made it there.

Needless to say Bangkok is one big tourist trap but being warned of that before hand is a small help. There are normal taxis in Bangkok along with motorcycle taxis and something called a tuktuk. A tuktuk is this scooter type vehicle that has a decent, and by decent I mean for maybe 2 or 3 people, sized covered seating area. They are one of the easiest modes of transportation but also one of the easiest to get ripped off by. Getting ripped off by a taxi driver in Thailand is the difference between paying $1 or $3. Granted it is not much but I think it is more the concept of being taken advantage of than actually paying.


The next day I tried to get up at a decent hour explore Bangkok. Grabbed a tuktuk in front of the hotel and headed into the city. There are so many things to see in Bangkok that I ended up seeing the biggest tourist places, which I think is fine when you only have one day to pack it all in. First I headed to a place called the Grand Palace. It is a massive grounds that previous kings have built elaborate buildings and Buddha's in. The buildings inside were very elaborate, even down to the intricate tile work that each pillar had on it. I spent my time slowly meandering around and through the buildings. It also gave me a chance to shoot some amazing pictures of some Thai architecture. Sadly some of the grounds were being renovated so I couldn't see everything but it was still worth it.


Afterwards a nice man at the exit of the Grand Palace got a cheap tuktuk for me to head to the Golden Mount and back. The Golden Mount is basically what it sounds like, a giant mound in the middle of the city that rises up and has a temple at the top. It was apparent that the whole structure was man made but it was still very impressive and had a great view of the city. There was also a nice temple next door that I took some time to visit and enjoy yet another Buddha.


Once the tuktuk finally got me back, after a few sketchy stops around the city, there was a temple across the river that I wanted to see. In order to get there I had to go through a small port area and catch a ferry to cross the river. It was a nice change of pace to ride the boat and the site of Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) was spectacular. After walking around all morning, wandering around the temple at a leisurely pace was all I could manage. I didn't spend a whole lot of time there because it was midday and the sun was killer. A short break at a coffee shop, where I met a random guy from Scotland, and then it was back on the ferry to find some lunch on the other side of the river.


Luckily there was a restaurant in the small port area that I was able to get a seat readily and some of the people spoke English. One of them was a college student and he spoke good English with a British accent. Since I was avoiding the sun and walking it was a nice afternoon conversation that lasted a couple hours. In the end they ended up giving me my lunch for free, which I was thankful for.


Then I headed to Wat Po, which has a massive reclining Buddha displayed in one of the buildings. It was unreal how huge this Buddha was and I spent plenty of time in that building just staring at it. From what I picked up from random tour guides, it was apparently reconstructed inside and was almost too big for the building. However it is obviously ok now. I also made a donation and was give small coins to drop in around a hundred metal bowls. It was kind of cool because it filed the hall with metallic sounds as people viewed the statue. On the same grounds as the Buddha is a Thai massage school and after a long day of walking it was time to experience the relaxing side of Thailand. A one hour Thai massage was exactly what I needed to finish out my day of touring about Bangkok. Afterwards I walked a bit to find a tuktuk that wasn't trying to make a small fortune off of me and made my way back to the hotel.


The last thing on my list of things to do was get some items people requested from an area called Khao San Road. It was full of foreigners but that also meant that there were plenty of shops and stalls for me to browse through. I was tempted to stay out a bit but I was totally exhausted from the day and there was plenty of vacation left. However, after buying some necklaces and fisherman pants it was time to return to the hotel where Melissa had just gotten into Bangkok. Ko Phi Phi here we come!

posted by Aaron @ 7:27 AM